How Jhon Duran’s €100m career unravelled in a year

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 5 Feb 2026 13:00 GMT
• 4 min read

News

Jhon Duran was a player who seemingly had the world at his feet with Aston Villa at the beginning of last season, but as he stands on the verge of a third move in the space of a year, he is on course to experience a thoroughly unique career.

Duran, 22, was hard to miss at the start of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. The Colombian might have been a habitual substitute for Villa, but he was also one of the most spectacular players in England’s top-flight, making spectacular long-range goals his trademark.

He scored 12 times in only 1046 minutes on the field for the Villans at the beginning of that term.

Current ETV

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Fenerbahce

Jhon Durán

F (C)

Fenerbahce

€40.4M

ETV Range

€36.3M - €44.4M

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Off the back of such a prodigious scoring record, the former Chicago Fire star was linked with a string of Europe’s biggest clubs, many of whom were eager to profit from his powerful shooting and knack for the incredible.

Duran shunned Europe’s elite to make a €77 million transfer to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr. Since then, his career has taken him to Turkey with Fenerbahce and is now set to see him switch to Russia with Zenit St Petersburg after a move to Ligue 1 side Lille broke down over his “exorbitant salary”.

Controversy immediately in Saudi

Duran’s career in the Saudi Pro League was riddled with controversy from the outset, with claims that he was travelling more than 600 miles per day to commute to training in order to avoid living in Saudi Arabia.

The Sun claimed that Duran had based himself in Bahrain due to concerns over whether he would be allowed to live together with his partner. Officially, co-habitation of unmarried couples is illegal for residents.

Al Nassr were quick to brand these claims “fake news”, but the negative trend for Duran had started in Saudi, and no way has yet been found to stop the slide.

By the summer, Arriyadiyah announced that Duran would leave after “difficulties on a personal level, which have affected his mental state and technical stability”.

Fenerbahce fallout

Duran found his way to Fenerbahce on loan, where he teamed up with Jose Mourinho.

The partnership proved to be short-lived as Mourinho would be sacked after Fener failed to qualify for the Champions League and replaced by Domenico Tedesco. His performance in Istanbul was also mixed; he was booked more regularly than he scored in his 21 appearances across all competitions and his loan was terminated on 5 February.

His spell was not without controversy. He reportedly had major falling outs with both Mourinho and Tedesco, which the club denied, but he also struggled to settle or find his best form due to injury issues.

Duran destined to be forgotten?

Now Duran is on his way to Russia, where he will join Zenit St Petersburg. Initially, this agreement is a loan, but it reportedly has a purchase option worth around €35m when the season ends.

This is in line with his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €40m but represents another bloody nose to Saudi’s transfer policy, which has increasingly seen big-money players arrive and then depart for considerably smaller fees.

The Pro League, though, appears undeterred and is poised for a major investment in the summer, with more than 50 top stars earmarked for a move.

Duran’s future, however, is less certain. A player who has already had €100m spent on him in transfer fees at the age of 22, he already threatens to become a forgotten figure in a pariah state, remembered as a curious footnote as well as a lost talent.